housing market

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Foreclosures Go Upscale
 Foreclosures Go Upscale 
May 15, 2008 10:11 AM CDT

Foreclosures Go Upscale

It's taken longer for ballooning loans to hit the wealthy, now facing the music

(Newser) - Luxury homes—once seemingly immune from the mortgage crisis—are starting to hit foreclosure lists across the nation, the Washington Post reports. And, real-estate agents predict, it’s just the beginning of a trend likely to grow as more buyers who bought beyond their means with adjustable-rate and interest-only mortgages...

Home, Retail Sales Keep Sliding
 Home, Retail Sales Keep Sliding 
May 13, 2008 11:36 AM CDT

Home, Retail Sales Keep Sliding

Retail decline due mainly to big autos drop; foreclosures depressing housing values

(Newser) - The housing market continued to plunge in the first quarter of 2008, as single-family sales dropped 22% from their year-ago pace, to 4.95 million annually. Bloomberg reports that the median home price is off 7.7% from a year ago, to $196,300, as foreclosed properties drag down values....

Federal Mortgage Plan Not Helping the Neediest: Critics

Only 2K in danger of foreclosure have been able to take advantage, stats show

(Newser) - A plan to federally subsidize the refinancing of troubled mortgages has in fact helped relatively few of the most at-risk borrowers, the New York Times reports. Though Bush administration officials said FHA Secure has benefited 150,000, federal statistics show that only 1,729 of those mortgages were delinquent. “...

Home Prices Take Record Dive
 Home Prices Take Record Dive 
Economy
Apr 29, 2008 11:24 AM CDT

Home Prices Take Record Dive

Key index drops 12.7%; consumer confidence plummets

(Newser) - A key measure of home prices fell fell 12.7% in February, the biggest decline in its 7 years of existence, and consumer confidence measured this month hit a 5-year low, Bloomberg reports. The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index reflects the crush of foreclosures and resultant tightening of lending standards....

Are Wall Street Banks Ready to Risk Again?

Return to corporate bonds among likely signs crisis is easing

(Newser) - Wary investors appear to be returning to Wall Street, the Journal reports, buying back into higher-risk debt issues from the likes of troubled Citigroup and Merrill Lynch. “Risk taking has come back in the market,” said one expert.

New-Home Sales Hit Lowest Level Since '91
 New-Home Sales Hit
 Lowest Level Since '91 
Economy
Apr 24, 2008 10:53 AM CDT

New-Home Sales Hit Lowest Level Since '91

8.5% drop much worse than expected; supply hits 27-year high

(Newser) - New-home sales fell yet again in March, the Wall Street Journal reports, with single-family sales off 8.5% to an annual rate of 526,000, the lowest level since 1991. Analysts had expected a drop of only 1.9%. The median price, meanwhile, plummeted 13.3%, to $227,600. With...

March Home Sales, Prices Fall
 March Home Sales, Prices Fall 
Economy
Apr 22, 2008 10:02 AM CDT

March Home Sales, Prices Fall

Buyers can't get loans, or are awaiting bigger price drops

(Newser) - Prices on existing homes fell in March, but buyers stayed away, either unable to get loans, or betting on yet bigger drops, Bloomberg reports. Sales dropped 2%, to an annual rate of 4.93 million, as the median price fell to $200,700 from $217,400 last year. The number...

Shareholder Revolt Strips WaMu Execs of Fat Pay

One resigns; chairman asked to step down

(Newser) - Washington Mutual shareholders got some of the blood they were out for yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reports, as the company backtracked on a pay scheme that would have shielded company executives from the subprime fallout. Board finance-committee head Mary Pugh also resigned, appeasing investors who blamed her for failing...

Housing Bill Loaded with Corporate Tax Breaks

But little to prevent foreclosures

(Newser) - The bill was rushed through the Senate to come to the aid of homeowners facing foreclosure, but it turns out that some of its biggest beneficiaries are automakers, airlines and energy producers. The Senate’s housing bill is packed with billions in corporate tax cuts, the New York Times reports....

Housing Starts Hit 17-Year Low

March starts plummet 11.9% as foreclosures create glut on market

(Newser) - Foreclosures and a glut of unsold homes flooding the market were blamed for an 11.9% drop in new housing starts last month, more than twice the slide economists had predicted, reports Bloomberg. Starts are at the lowest level since March 1991, according to the Commerce Department, casting a pall...

Senate Passes Housing Aid Bill
 Senate Passes Housing Aid Bill 
Apr 10, 2008 3:02 PM CDT

Senate Passes Housing Aid Bill

Wins approval by wide margin, but House, Bush opposition leave fate uncertain

(Newser) - The Senate approved a $15 billion measure to address the housing slump today, including $6 billion in total tax breaks to homebuilding firms and a $7,000 tax credit for buyers of foreclosed homes. Though it passed by an 84-12 margin, opposition from President Bush and the House could yet...

Mortgage Crisis Spreads Across the Atlantic

UK housing prices plunge; chancellor acts to shore up market

(Newser) - UK home prices tumbled 2.5% in February—the largest fall since the 1990s—as the International Monetary Fund warned that Britain could face a housing crisis similar to the US. British PM Gordon Brown insisted yesterday the decline was containable, but the Bank of England is now under serious...

Pickup Sales Plummet to 10-Year Low

Trucks can't pull their weight as gas prices rev up, housing stalls

(Newser) - US pickup truck sales tumbled in March, hitting their lowest level in nearly a decade. The Big Three all reported double-digit percentage drops in sales this month—the Dodge Ram was down 26%—and large pickups represented barely more than 10% of the auto market. High gas prices added fuel...

Slump Stings Vegas McMansion Owners

Curious aspect of swelling home inventories: unsold palaces

(Newser) - The housing crisis has caused the number of homes for sale across the country to grow, but in Las Vegas, brokers are dealing with an unusual aspect of swelling inventory—an excess of $1 million-plus listings. Although they're luxury properties with pools and excesses of polished marble, those constructed more...

Existing Home Contracts Down in February
Existing Home Contracts Down in February
Economy
Apr 8, 2008 1:00 PM CDT

Existing Home Contracts Down in February

Still no sign of bottom in housing values

(Newser) - Contracts to buy previously owned homes declined 1.9% in February, according to the National Association of Realtors’ index, which fell to its lowest levels since its creation in 2001. The drop was nearly double the 1% decline analysts predicted, reports Bloomberg, and sent stocks tumbling further.

Lenders Turning Blind Eye to Overdue Payments

Overwhelmed banks taking much longer to foreclose on homes

(Newser) - With foreclosures skyrocketing, overwhelmed mortgage lenders are turning a blind eye to homeowners who haven’t paid up, letting them live in their houses despite delinquency, Bloomberg reports. The 3.6% of borrowers at least 90 days behind is almost twice the percentage foreclosed upon. Lenders’ delays are skewing foreclosure...

Unsold Homes Handcuffing Job-Seekers

Housing crisis crimps mobility, prevents workers from moving

(Newser) - The housing crisis that’s kept many from selling their homes has, in turn, warped the job market, the New York Times reports. Those who can’t sell their houses can’t relocate to seek work. Usually, more than 5 million workers move per year. But now, tens of thousands...

And to Your Right, You'll See Another Foreclosure...

Bus tours take prospectors, and the merely curious, through ruins of mortgage crisi

(Newser) - Looking for cheap real estate? Hop on a foreclosure bus tour, a trend sweeping the nation in the wake of the mortgage crisis, the AP reports. The excursions typically include experts who educate buyers while showing empty homes: some bargain beauties, some fixer-uppers. "We're kind of a seminar on...

Agents Use 'Cash for Keys' to Stem Owner Vandalism

Foreclosed properties bear marks of parting shots

(Newser) - Banks and mortgage companies are hoping a “cash for keys” policy will stem a growing problem for lenders taking possession of foreclosed homes: dispossessed homeowners trashing their houses on the way out the door. Cheaper and faster than eviction proceedings, the policy is "win-win for both parties,"...

Shining Sun Belt Beckons to Rust Belt's Weary

Southern populations, particularly in Texas, continue to explode

(Newser) - Americans are continuing to flock to the Sun Belt, reports the AP. Almost all of the 50 fastest-growing metro areas in 2006 and 2007 were in the South and West, and four of the top 10 were in Texas. None were in the Northeast. Experts say the Sun Belt's strong...

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